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'Let ourselves down': England on brink of historic World Cup exit

England are perilously close to becoming the first shock exit of the World Cup nines after a 16-13 loss to lowly Lebanon.

Without their boycotting NRL stars, the Cedars claimed what will likely be the biggest upset of the weekend against an England side full of NRL and Super League talent.

Brothers Reece and Travis Robinson starred, the latter scoring a double with the first coming from a nice flick pass from his sibling.

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The win was Lebanon's second of the tournament after also stunning France on the opening night, meaning they will qualify for the finals if they beat Wales on Saturday afternoon.

That would blow England out of the tournament, meaning they would miss the semi-finals of a rugby league World Cup event in any format for the first time in their history.

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"We probably didn't start well. Some of the tries we let in defensively weren't our best effort. That's where we let ourselves down there," England star Gareth Widdop said.

"They played some good football. We nearly got it at the end there but didn't."

Lebanon players celebrate another unlikely upset at the Rugby World Cup 9s, this time over England. (Photo by Brett Hemmings/Getty Images)
Lebanon players celebrate another unlikely upset at the Rugby World Cup 9s, this time over England. (Photo by Brett Hemmings/Getty Images)

"We know we need to be better in the next game."

France beat Wales 23-6 in the day's first men's match but will also miss the finals if Lebanon win their last game.

Kangaroos hopeful impresses

David Fifita showed a glimpse of the future in his first senior rugby league game for Australia with two tries as the Kangaroos beat New Zealand 25-12 to ignite the World Cup nines in Sydney.

While Tonga and Fiji were shock losers on Friday's opening night of the tournament at Bankwest Stadium, Fifita ensured Australia wouldn't join the list of upset losers.

The 19-year-old star ran in both of the Kangaroos' second-half tries with typical barn-storming runs, while he also put the Aussies on the front foot for a Kyle Feldt try.

In total, he finished with nine tackle busts, two line breaks, a line-break assist and an offload to easily be the best player so far in the competition.